Beverly Hills Egg Donation is pleased to announce an exciting new tool to assist intended parents in their search for their ideal egg donor.

Beginning today, BHED is one of a select few organizations in the fertility industry with access to advanced facial recognition software that will enable intended parents to select a donor who bears the most physical resemblance to them.

Based on a photo that the intended parent provides to BHED, the 3D software from Precision Donor constructs a virtual topographical map of the intended parent’s features.  That map is compared to all of the registered donors in the BHED database using a sophisticated three-part process of measurement, surface texture analysis, and vector templating.  A list of the best matches for the intended parent’s physical features is produced.  Neither the intended parent’s nor the donor’s photos are stored on the server involved with this process, the photos are purged as soon as the mathematical mapping is complete.

This highly accurate software is similar to that used by elite government agencies including the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

The service is only available in conjunction with an in-person or Skype consultation.  The cost of the consultation, and the use of BHED’s groundbreaking new service, is $500, which is deducted from the agency fee when a donor is selected and the agency agreement is signed.

To schedule a consultation, please call us at (310)601-3132.

When you finally make your decision and choose an egg donor it is totally natural to want to get started right away.  Many recipients are anxious to find out what they can do to move the cycle along.  Unfortunately, when a match is made, often it is the donor who has the most to do.  All donors will meet with your doctor, have bloodwork done, and new donors will have their psychological and genetic counselor interviews.

For intended parents–there is mostly just waiting.  One thing that intended parents can do right away is contact their attorney and let them know that they are in cycle with a new egg donor, or research and retain an attorney if they don’t have one.  Choosing an attorney to draft your agreement is very important.  You want to work with someone who specializes in reproductive law.  Your attorney will be drafting the contract between you and your donor and for your protection you want that to be iron clad.  It is well worth your money to work with an attorney who does all of their work in reproductive law.

Speaking of cost–how much will it cost?  The average price for a contract is between $750.00 and $1000.00.  Some attorneys will offer re-drafting options as well.  Once retained, your attorney will write the contact and review it with you.  this can all be done as they cycle is beginning.  After your donor’s first visit to the doctor the contract (with your approval) will be sent to your donor’s attorney who will review it with your donor, clarify any questions that she has, and request any changes on her behalf.

Once everyone is happy, the contract is signed and you’re ready to go.  Ideally all of the timing will work out perfectly and the contract will be done shortly before your donor starts medication.  BHED (Beverly Hills Egg Donation) has a great list of reproductive lawyers available upon request.

If you’re registered as an egg donor, getting a new tattoo becomes a decision that can have a much bigger affect than you’d ever anticipated.  For a potential recipient who has spent weeks pouring over donor profiles (and sometimes thousands of dollars on previous failed IVF cycles), only to fall in love with their perfect match, news that their ideal donor has gotten a tattoo from an unlicensed facility can be devastating.

All of this can be avoided if you keep in mind that potential donors cannot donate their eggs if they’ve had a tattoo or body piercing within the past six months to a year.  The only exception to this rule is if you can provide written and signed proof that your tattoo or piercing was administered at a state-regulated facility, using a sterile technique.  Even then, however, some doctors will still require that donors wait eight weeks before donating – one clinic still requires donors to wait the full 12 months!  To make things even more complicated, the official regulations vary from state to state, and only 32 states even have such regulations.  If you choose to have your tattoo or piercing administered in a state that does not enforce regulations, you can be sure that you’ll be in for an extremely long wait before you’re finally able to donate.

If you’re serious about wanting to donate and help a family in need, Beverly Hills Egg Donation recommends that you hold off on any plans for a new tattoo or piercing until after you’ve completed your donation cycle(s).

BHED Managing Partner Robyn Perchik was honored to attend this year’s Family Equality Council awards dinner honoring Prop 8 opponent Chad Griffin.  Celebrating 30 years in 2012, Family Equality Council connects, supports, and represents LGBT parents in the United States and the two million children they’re raising.  The evening’s honoree – Chad Griffin – has been a powerful voice in the struggle for marriage equality, advocating for its recognition as a right and privilege that is essential for LGBT parents to fully protect and nurture their families.

At Beverly Hills Egg Donation, we’ve always been committed to providing a supportive, personalized experience for our intended parents.  But we recently took steps to make that experience even better by creating a new position for our longtime Cycle Coordinator, Ellie Goldman.  Ellie is now BHED’s Director of Client Services.

So what difference does that make?  Actually, a great deal.  Ellie is an experienced and caring partner who is there for our intended parents from beginning to end, joining forces with them from the moment they contact BHED and seeing them through the entire process of choosing a donor.

You might wonder how Ellie and BHED work differently than other egg donation agencies.  Many of them operate strictly as a business: intended parents pick their donor, send their payment, and the agency forwards the donor’s profile to the doctor.  It’s impersonal and clinical at a time when intended parents are craving feedback, support and empathy.

At BHED, we don’t want our intended parents to feel like a cog in the wheel of a business transaction.  On the contrary: our intended parents are the captains of a team of players whose ultimate shared goal is the creation of a baby.  And Ellie is both team manager and head cheerleader, working with our intended parents to reserach and consider prospective donors, communicate questions and requests to donors of interest, and provide support.  And if an intended parent desires a more personal connection to his or her donor, BHED is happy to host conference calls, Skype video chats, or face-to-face meetings between the parties, while still ensuring that everyone’s anonymity is protected.

We know that the egg donation process can be overwhelming and anxiety provoking for intended parents.  Our goal is to lessen that anxiety rather than add to it.  We never want an intended parent to feel rushed into making a decision; in fact, 99 percent of the work Ellie does with and for intended parents happens before BHED is paid.  While some intended parents know exactly which donor they want, others may need to take their time during the selection process.  At no point will an intended parent feel any pressure to make a decision any faster than is comfortable.  There is no time limit at BHED, and we do not ask for payment until our intended parents have chosen a donor and we have confirmed that she is ready to be matched.  It is critical to us that by the time intended parents choose a donor and sign our agency agreement, they feel 100 percent confident moving forward not only with their donor, but with us.

At BHED, we are keenly aware that this process can be an isolating one, especially for intended parents who live abroad, far from their donor and doctors.  Ellie’s new Director of Client Services position was created expressly for the benefit of our intended parents so that they have a dedicated team member who is always available for questions, feedback, and support.